• About
  • Editorial Board
    • Staff Writers
  • Advertise
  • Join Us
  • Archives
The Wellesley News -
  • News and Features
    • The Wellesley (COVID) 100
      The Wellesley (COVID) 100
    • In memory of Professor Rebecca Summerhays
      In memory of Professor Rebecca Summerhays
    • Trans flag controversy: College power washes staircase after trans flag is painted over Harry Potter spray paint
      Trans flag controversy: College power washes staircase after trans flag is painted over Harry Potter spray paint
    • News
      • News in Brief
      • Nation & World
      • President’s Corner
      • Senate Report
    • Features
      • Alumnae Spotlight
      • Eye on Science
      • Faculty Focus
      • LGBTQIA+ Column
  • Opinions
    • The News in Conversation: Wellesley Against Mass Incarceration
      The News in Conversation: Wellesley Against Mass Incarceration
    • Editorial Board calls for keeping up trans flag murals
      Editorial Board calls for keeping up trans flag murals
    • No, Elon Musk’s Twitter will not restore free speech
      No, Elon Musk’s Twitter will not restore free speech
    • Staff Editorial
    • Letters to the Editor
    • The Elephant in the Room
  • Arts
    • Chloe Gong could publish her grocery list and I’d pay $20 for it (Books Before Boys review)
      Chloe Gong could publish her grocery list and I’d pay $20 for it (Books Before Boys review)
    • RIP to Wanda, the male betta fish (Books Before Boys review)
      RIP to Wanda, the male betta fish (Books Before Boys review)
    • When talking to ghosts only worsens your existential dread (Books Before Boys review)
      When talking to ghosts only worsens your existential dread (Books Before Boys review)
    • Arts In The News
    • Reviews
    • Music Peek
    • Books Before Boys
  • Health and Wellness
    • February Student Athlete of the Month
      February Student Athlete of the Month
    • Athletics Update
      Athletics Update
    • Victoria Garrick Speaks on Mental Health
      Victoria Garrick Speaks on Mental Health
    • Athlete of the Week
    • Boston Sports Update
    • The Vegan Digest
    • The SHE Corner
  • The Wellesley Snooze
    • Wellesley News Leadership Changes Completely Peacefully Without Any Suspicious Disappearances At All
      Wellesley News Leadership Changes Completely Peacefully Without Any Suspicious Disappearances At All
    • Solve Your Connection Problems With Wellesley Insecure
      Solve Your Connection Problems With Wellesley Insecure
    • Mayhem strikes Wellesley as paper towels removed from campus
      Mayhem strikes Wellesley as paper towels removed from campus
  • Miscellanea
    • President’s Column: The Butterfly Effect
      President’s Column: The Butterfly Effect
    • Administrators shocked to learn that students dislike being left in dark
      Administrators shocked to learn that students dislike being left in dark
    • 50 Lies You Tell Yourself in Order to Survive Until Graduation
      50 Lies You Tell Yourself in Order to Survive Until Graduation
    • The Dose
    • The Olive Branch
    • Multimedia
      • Galleries
      • Infographics
      • Videos
By Chi Trinh Features, News and FeaturesNovember 3, 2016

Knapp interns offer tech solutions and training to campus community

Knapp interns Kaylie Cox ’18, Michelle Lu ’18, and Aubrey Simonson ’19. | Photo by Audrey Stevens '17, Photography Editor.

Knapp Media and Technology Center has proved to be a valuable on-campus resource for students, faculty and staff with its computer workstations, audio- and video-production studios and many other up-to-date multimedia equipment and software. However, that is not everything the Center offers. For the past three years, Knapp interns have been organizing workshops on a variety of media and technology related topics, including coding, UX design and 3D printing.

Six interns from different class years and diverse majors are currently hosting the workshops program. Many of them concur that the most important requirements for a Knapp Center intern are basic skills and knowledge about digital media and technology, together with initiative and passion.

Kaylie Cox ’18, one of the interns, explained the main purposes of this program.

“The main objectives of the workshops we offer are to help students learn about different resources and programs we have at Knapp Center and learn how to use them in everyday academic setting or for personal projects,” she said.

Another intern, Michelle Lu ’18, agreed and also emphasized the need for such workshops.

“Too many people still use software like Powerpoint to make spam when they could be using way better software like Photoshop,” Lu explained.

The topics covered in the workshops are very diverse, as Knapp interns create workshops according to what they hear students are interested in learning about. For example, Lu gave several sessions on the video editing software Final Cut Pro, T-shirt design and business card design. Other workshops focused on useful skills such as making animated gifs. Last semester, “How to make a great spam” by Aubrey Simonson ’19 attracted such a substantial number of participants and received so much positive feedback that she held it again this year.

“I taught one [spam-making workshop] on basic graphic design using Canva and Photoshop, but it was so popular that I taught it two more times – once to students again and once to a group of administrators who specifically requested it,” Simonson elaborated.

For the past few years, the attendance of many workshops hovered around zero to four people per session. Most of the interns agreed that although the workshops at Knapp Center were supposed to be a valuable student resource, many students on campus are not aware of the resources that Knapp provides. However, the interns expressed positivity about the program, as they observed an increase in attendance this year.

“We’re hoping to increase our attendance even more!” Lu said.

The interns already have interesting plans for the rest of this semester and the spring semester as well.

“I am hoping to do a workshop on 3D modeling in Blender next spring, and possibly a second one as an introduction to Unity – a game engine used to create video games for different platforms,” Cox said.

Lu also plans on giving sessions on Unity while another intern, Havanah Tran ’19, will carry on her “Graphic Design” series. Yet what the interns do is much more than merely teaching workshops. They are available at the Knapp Help Desk from 12 p.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday and from 6:30 p.m. to 9:30 p.m. Monday through Thursday to answer questions and assist students, faculty and staff in the use of the Knapp Center’s resources.

“We also do a great deal of work directly with professors, helping them figure out how to integrate more complex technologies into their classroom and research,” Simonson added.

For instance, Cox has been helping Associate Professor of Classical Studies Bryan Burns with his Eastern Boeotia Archaeological Project in Greece.

“I’ve been working on making 3D models of an excavation site in Greece, and then that model was dropped into Unity and turned into a VR [virtual reality] experience through the use of an HTC Vive [a VR headset]. Being able to do cool things like that makes the job a lot of fun, and I really enjoy it,” Cox described.

Lu also believed that getting to understand and use new technology is definitely one of the perks of the job.

“This semester our supervisor, Jordan, took some of us to New York to organize a booth at a digital fabrication event called Maker Faire, which was a lot of fun. We get to use the time to explore and learn new software and technology, and to help others,” Lu said. She also expressed that it may be beneficial to students to take advantage of all that the Knapp Center has to offer.

“We have a lot of cool technology like 3D printers, virtual reality, 3D modeling software, the Adobe Suite, video editing software, etc. available to students while lots of students don’t even know about them! I hope more people can come and use the Knapp Center and the Knapp interns as a resource.”

Share on

  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Pinterest
  • Google +
  • LinkedIn
  • Email
Previous articleSenate Report: 11/2
Next articleScientists impede spread of viruses with bacteria-infected mosquitoes

You may also like

The Wellesley (COVID) 100

In memory of Professor Rebecca Summerhays

Trans flag controversy: College power washes staircase after trans flag is painted over Harry Potter spray paint

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Email Newsletter

Sign up to receive our weekly digest in your inbox

* indicates required

Top Articles

Sorry. No data so far.

Recent Tweets

Tweets by @Wellesley_News

The independent student newspaper of Wellesley College since 1901.

Sign up to receive our weekly digest in your inbox

* indicates required

  • About
  • Editorial Board
    • Staff Writers
  • Advertise
  • Join Us
  • Archives
COPYRIGHT © 2022 THE WELLESLEY NEWS
Back to top